Balmoral Hotel’s executive chef Jeff Bland, talks food trends, Scottish dishes and Scotch whisky

Eloquent and cheerful, Jeff Bland, executive chef of The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland, is someone you immediately warm up to.

As the executive chef, he has been the driving force behind the hotel’s growing culinary reputation. There are four restaurants and a bar in the hotel. The crowning glory is Number One, a Michelin-starred restaurant that has guarded its star for 15 years under Bland’s guidance.

As the executive chef of one of Scotland’s most luxurious hotels, he is also discreet. When asked about J.K. Rowling’s stay, he remains mum on the matter.

Harry Potter fans may already know this, but for those who might not be familiar with the woman who wrote the books, The Balmoral was where Rowling retreated to when she was finishing writing Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series. The room she stayed in for about six months, room 552, has since been renamed the J.K. Rowling suite.

We caught up with Bland to discuss the highlights of Scottish fine dining – including smooth Scotch whisky.

How has diners’ tastes changed over the past years?

Customers are becoming more knowledgeable about the food they eat and they want to know they’re getting the best. Our guests love to hear about the Orkney lamb we serve that has been fed on seaweed, chickens that have been raised in Scotland on nearby Letham farm, and local game – such as grouse, pheasant and partridge. The food served in the hotel never has to travel far and we know exactly what farms, wood or moor they came from. In the summer we have our summer fruits trolley in our brasserie, Hadrian’s, dedicated to the very best berries from Blairgowrie in Perthshire which have a great depth of flavour because of the slow, long sunny days we have that allow the fruit to fully ripen.

What underrated quintessentially Scottish dish would you recommend to people unfamiliar with Scottish cuisine?

Cullen skin, a flavoursome, hearty Scottish soup made from Finnan haddock (haddock smoked in a traditional way), potatoes and chives. It originates from the fishing village of Cullen and is made with local produce – that’s where they smoke the haddock on the bone and there are ample potatoes. I make a stock out of the smoked haddock bones to give it a really good flavour, use Maris Piper potatoes from Perthshire, and keep it classic.